‘Buhari has Worsened Nigeria’s Economic Situation’

George Okoh in Makurdi

A Former Aspirant on the ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2015 governorship race in Benue State, Mr. Nathaniel Apir has blamed President Mohammed Buhari for the aggravated worsening economic situation in the country even as he disclosed that the level of poverty was high among the citizenry.

He said that even though the president’s corruption fight was in order, he condemned the way and manner the president was going about it. He made the statement while speaking to reporters in Makurdi Yesterday.

He said the presidents’ in action at the beginning of his tenure led to this crises.

He condemned the corruption fight by the Buhari government which he said was vindictive and would not stand the test of time while also questioning why top civil servants and bankers were not being tried by anti-crime agencies.

“The fight is targeting the wrong people, politically exposed people are being targeted while fraudulent civil servants and bankers are walking about freely.

The president has grounded the economy due to lack of clear cut economic policies.” Till date we don’t have an economic team to form a good blue print that will take us out of the wood”

He said the President must act fast to save the country from collapsing.

He also called on the Benue Governor Samuel Ortom to sack 90 per cent of his cabinet members for non-performance.

He said the present commissioners in Benue lacked the pedigree and intellectual capability, adding that they did not have the requisite skill to assist the governor develop the State.

“Most of them were appointed for political patronage and this has stifled development of the State”, he decried.

Apir frowned at the manner the governor was handling the internally generated revenue, IGR of the State, accusing him of always speculating on figures rather than telling the truth, averring too that what was being realised between N800million to N1.2 billion, the governor had no excuse not to pay salary of workers.

He further lamented that Ortom’s government was built on godfatherism, warning that if he did not wean himself from the breast milk of godfather’s, he would not make any meaningful development.

The erstwhile consultant to former Governor Gabriel Suswam on Project monitoring, faulted the amnesty program of Ortom, describing it is as ‘a failure’, noting that the dimension employed by the government in resolving the Gana’s quagmire is vindictive.

“Declaring Gana wanted is an afterthought and meant to cover the criminal acts committed by him using this government. It is diversionary. Government is afraid about what Gana would reveal in court of law. Government wants Gana dead. Why arrest his lawyer Lord Terfa Jirgba? Even the well-known Niger Delta militant Tompolo has a lawyer and he has never been arrested. There is.more to the Gana issue than we are being told. Why did Ortom not arrest Gana when he came to Government house after the death of Denen Igbana. Government should come clean on the Gana issue”, Apir frowned.

While taking a swipe on the Justice Kpojime report which probed the administration of former Governor Gabriel Suswam, Apir condemned it as a ‘fraud’ targeted to annihilate those indicted.